Apparently, people are too busy living their lives to care about our professional lives trying to sell them stuff and points of view.

So before you do anything, marketer, ask yourself a couple simple questions (answer them truthfully, or prepare to fail):

Who are you are trying to influence? Describe the person, not a demographic.

That person is currently doing something that makes her/him happy (or at least satisfied)–– why should she/he care about what you have to say?

How is your product or service going to make her/his life better, more emotionally enriching?

Why should he/she believe you? Be honest, their B.S. detectors are always set to HIGH.

Now, what do you want that person to do–– providing you’ve piqued some interest.

There. Five black and white questions that must be answered before you get to the really hard part–– how to pique interest with your message in a meaningful way, and where to engage her/him.

Forget the shortcuts, fool’s gold fads and idealistic dreams that people will do what you want just so the company can make its quarterly numbers. Everyone is the hero in her/his movie, and you, well, you’re just an interruption. Sorry.

So what are you going to do to make your disruption into their lives worthwhile?

Because here’s the ugly truth about marketing in the 21st century: humanity trumps technology, every time.